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Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Stag Hare - Ahspen

Local ReviewStag HareAhspen(2007, American West Freedom Society)9.0/10

Stag Hare has blown my mind. I didn’t have any idea stuff like this was being produced in Salt Lake City and am preparing an extensive search of the intriguing A. Star Records outfit. The sound on Ahspen is culled from the often touted and equally disowned explosion of a ‘new weird America.’ What Stag Hare has accomplished here is something that should definitely garner notice from the Jackie-O, Six Organs of Admittance and Holy Mountain crowds. The tracks read like Keith Fullerton Whitman's Lisbon as interperetted through Animal Collective in their more ambient moments. Bearing a single track just over 41 minutes, Stag Hare has the common obstacle found among many noise/drone acts of hooking their listener from the beginning and then keeping things interesting enough to coax them all the way to the end. On Ahspen, Stag Hare has somehow accomplished this task more successfully than any artists in recent memory. Stag Hare’s raga flows meticulously like the most serene metaphysical river, constantly and ever so slightly shifting and surging as it washes over you. Any endeavor to listen to such music of this nature comes with skepticism for me, even with knowledge that I am quite fond of experimental music. Stag hare has obliterated any preconceived doubts and converted a true believer. Snatch these up before word gets out; Ahspen is ultra limited (30 copies) and is an experience you are not likely to relive soon.